Albert I (also called Albert the Tall) (1236-1279) was given the
regions around Brunswick -
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel , Einbeck-Grubenhagen and
Göttingen-Oberwald . He thus founded the Old House of Brunswick and
laid the basis for what became, later, the
PrincipalityPrincipality of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. His brother John (1242-1277) inherited the
land around Lüneburg and founded the Old House of Lüneburg. The town
of Brunswick remained under joint rule.

The area of Brunswick(-Wolfenbüttel) was further subdivided in the
succeeding decades. For example, the lines of Grubenhagen and
Göttingen were split for a while. In a similar way, in 1432 the
estates between the Deister hills and the Leine river, that had been
gained in the meantime from the Middle House of Brunswick, split away
to form the
Principality of Calenberg . There were further
reunifications and divisions. Coat of arms of the Duchy in
Schedel\'s World Chronicle of 1493

In the meanwhile the dukes became weary of the constant disputes with
the citizens of the town of Brunswick and, in 1432, moved their
Residenz to the water castle of
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel , which lay in a marshy
depression of the river
OkerOker about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) south of
Brunswick. The castle built here for the
Brunswick-LüneburgBrunswick-Lüneburg dukes -
together with the ducal chancery, the consistory , the courts and the
archives - became the nerve centre of a giant region, from which the
Wolfenbüttel-Brunswick part of the overall dukedom was ruled. For a
long time it also governed the principalities of Calenberg-Göttingen
and Grubenhagen , the Prince-
Bishopric of Halberstadt , large parts of
the
Prince-Bishopric of Hildesheim , the counties of Hohnstein and
Regenstein , the baronies of Klettenberg and
Lohra and parts of Hoya
on the Lower Weser. The importance of this court was signified by the
number of craftsmen needed. Hundreds of timber-framed buildings were
built for the court, for its citizens and for ducal facilities,
initially randomly, later designed to ducal requirements and for fire
protection. In the heyday of the town's development its districts were
named after various dukes: the Auguststadt in the west, the
Juliusstadt in the east and the Heinrichstadt.

Following the twelfth division of the duchy in 1495, whereby the
PrincipalityPrincipality of Brunswick-Calenberg-Göttingen was re-divided into its
component territories, Duke Henry the Elder was given the land of
Brunswick, to which the name of the new
Residenz at
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel was
added. From then on the name of the principality became
"Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel".

The reigns of dukes Henry the Younger , Julius and Henry Julius
followed, under whose lordship the
Residenz of
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel was
expanded and the principality gained a Germany-wide standing.

From 1519 to 1523 the principality went to war with the
principalities of Hildesheim and Lüneburg in the Hildesheim Diocesan
Feud which, despite a resounding defeat in the
Battle of Soltau ,
eventually resulted in large territorial gains accruing to
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel. Ducatus Brunsvicensis, 1645
Schloss
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel

In 1635 Duke Augustus the Younger , from the collateral line of
Lüneburg-Dannenberg, took over the reins of power in the principality
and founded the New House of Brunswick. Under his rule Wolfenbüttel
reached its cultural zenith. One of his greatest achievements was the
building of the
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel Library , the largest in Europe in its
day. In 1671 an old pipe dream of the
House of WelfHouse of Welf dukes came true
when the joint armies of the different dynastic lines were able to
capture the town of Brunswick and add it to their domain.

In 1735 when the dynastic line died out another collateral line
emerged: the Brunswick-Bevern line founded in 1666.

The town thus lost the independence it had enjoyed since the 15th
century. In the process, the duke followed the trend and did not
interfere with anything, including work on the new castle, begun in
1718 by
Hermann Korb on the Grauer Hof which was still not finished.
The effect on
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel was catastrophic, as can be seen from the
timber-framed houses built later on. 4,000 townsfolk followed the
ducal family and Wolfenbüttel's population sank from 12,000 to 7,000.
Only the archives, the ecclesiastical office and the library remained
as a link to earlier times. From Brunswick there were jibes that
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel had deteriorated into a "widows' residence"
(Witwensitz).

The extensive gardens in front of the three town gates (the
Herzogtor, Harztor and Augusttor) were leased to the former gardeners
as an emphyteusis . As a consequence jam factories were established
which were characteristic of
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel until the 20th century. In
front of the Herzogtor the number of gardens grew, until they
eventually reached the Lechlum Wood (Lechlumer Holz). Its southern
edge was graced by the little
Lustschloss of Antoinettenruh, built in
1733 instead of a garden house, a work by the master builder, Hermann
Korb, who was so important to Wolfenbüttel.
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel became a
town of schools. In 1753 the teachers' training college was founded,
which began in the orphanage and later moved to the building of the
present-day Harztorwall School.

Politically Brunswick-
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel was one of
PrussiaPrussia 's closest
allies. Whilst shortly beforehand the Habsburg emperor had been the
most important focal point through political marriages, the
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel line of the Welfs became closely linked to the
Hohenzollerns through the marriage of the Prussian Crown Prince
Frederick to Elisabeth Christine . The marriage was arranged by
Frederick William I of
PrussiaPrussia and Ferdinand Albert. They also founded
the "brotherhood in arms" between the little state and the great
Prussian empire. Numerous Brunswick-
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel officers served in
high positions in the
Prussian ArmyPrussian Army , most notably during the Seven
Years\' War . The regiments of the principality screened the allied
army in West
PrussiaPrussia and, in particular, the allied Electorate of
Brunswick-LüneburgBrunswick-Lüneburg . An outstanding representative of the military
alliance between Brunswick and
PrussiaPrussia was the Duke of Brunswick and
Lüneburg, the hereditary Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel
.

During Charles I's era, there were great achievements in the cultural
and scientific fields: the theatre was promoted and education
encouraged. In 1753 the ducal art and natural history collection -
forerunner of the Natural History Museum - was founded. These
substantial collections had been amassed by the Brunswick dukes. This
enterprise was supported by Abbot Jerusalem , the founder of the
Collegium Carolinum . Whilst
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel waned, Brunswick now
experienced a cultural boom.

In August 1784
Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe stayed in Brunswick on a
political mission, when he accompanied the Weimarsch minister, his
duke, Charles Augustus . At a time when the political situation
between Austria and
PrussiaPrussia had heated up once again, the small and
medium-sized German states planned the creation of a larger princely
state as a counterbalancing force. Duke Charles William Ferdinand of
Brunswick was to be asked to join this league of princes
(Fürstenbund) which he did on 30 August.

The secret mission was disguised as a family visit at the time of the
Autumn Fair. court life determined the timing of the stay in the
Residenz castle on Bohlweg.

NAPOLEONIC ERA AND TRANSFER TO THE DUCHY OF BRUNSWICK

As a result of the
German MediatisationGerman Mediatisation of 25 February 1803 the
principality was given the territories of the secularised imperial
abbeys of Gandersheim and Helmstedt . In 1806 Duke Charles William
Ferdinand was mortally wounded as a Prussian general in the Battle of
Auerstedt . After a short interregnum Brunswick was occupied from 1807
to 1813 by the French and became part of the
Kingdom of WestphaliaKingdom of Westphalia .

After the end of Napoleonic rule the state was re-established under
the name of the
Duchy of Brunswick .

COLLATERAL LINE IN BEVERN

The PRINCIPALITY OF BRUNSWICK-WOLFENBüTTEL-BEVERN emerged from an
inheritance dispute between Ferdinand Albert I and his brothers. In
1667 Ferdinand Albert was awarded the castle of Bevern near Holzminden
. He — and later his son Ferdinand Albert II — were princes of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern. In 1735 Ferdinand Albert II took over
the
PrincipalityPrincipality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, the subordinate
principality returning to the overarching
PrincipalityPrincipality of
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel.

ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL HISTORY

THE ROLE OF FARMERS

According to Bornstedt serfdom in the state was abolished with the
"Recess of 17 May 1433" by
Henry the Peaceful . According to
Bornstedt, Brunswick-
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel was therefore the first
principality in the
Holy Roman EmpireHoly Roman Empire to do away with feudalism. The
recess laid down that all arbitrariness (Willkür) in the levies on
stewards, or Meier, of feudal manors, particularly on the death of the
farmer , were cancelled. the Grundherr or 'lord of the manor'
continued to be the owner of the Meier estate, but now the Meier could
also quit. This change usually meant that the Meier family did not
move out when the contract expired or when the farmer died; i.e. that
the family were not prematurely evicted as would have been the case
before. In 1563 it was decreed by Henry the Younger that every 6 years
Meier and Grundherr had to negotiate the extension of the estate
lease; later this was increased to 9 years. In his
LandtagLandtag farewell in
1597, "Duke" Henry Julius made the farms inheritable.

With the Brunswick redemption law (Ablösungsordnung) of 20 December
1834 by the state's legal successor, the
Duchy of Brunswick , the
dependence of the farmers was abolished. Farmers could now purchase
the land freehold and the money required could be loaned from the
ducal lending office . At the end of the 19th century Flurbereinigung
or land consolidation took place.